Jesus was exaggerating to make a point

JESUS WAS EXAGGERATING TO MAKE A POINT
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
LUKE 19:37-4037 When he came near the place
where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the
whole crowd of disciplesbegan joyfully to praiseGod
in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessedis the king who comes in the name of the
Lord!”[b]
“Peacein heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the
stones will cry out.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
SuppressionAnd Expression
Luke 19:39, 40

W. Clarkson
It is not difficult to find the meaning of our Lord in this hyperbolical
utterance of his. "Why should I silence my disciples?" he says. "Ofwhat use
would it be to suppress such strong feelings as theirs? Feeling will always find
its vent. If suppressedin one form, it will express itself in another; if driven
underground in one spot, it will only come up in another; if these human
beings whose hearts are so filled with exultation were silenced, the very stones
would cry out." It is useless, andworse than useless, to try to extinguish
enthusiasm by a hard repressive commandment. The folly of suppressionand
the wisdomof allowing and inviting, indeed of providing, the means of
suitable expressionwill apply to many things.
I. YOUTHFUL CURIOSITY. Curiosity is an irrepressible thing; it will be
satisfied. Age cannot extinguish it, try how it may. It may have occasionto
check it, but its true wisdom is to guide it - to take the necessarytrouble to
satisfy it in the best possible way. Curiosity is not a plant of the evil one; it is
rooted in the soul by the heavenly Father; it is a main source ofknowledge;it
ought to be wiselybut amply nourished. If we endeavour to suppress it we
shall find that it will not be suppressed, but will find other ways of satisfaction
than those we disallow.
II. THE LOVE OF LIBERTY. A desire for freedom and independence is a
strong sentiment of the human soul. Where intelligence exists there it will
arise and assertitself. It will not be put down; it cannot be put out. Authority
may "rebuke" it, as the Pharisees wantedChrist to acton this occasion;but
the Lord of our nature knows that it will be heard and must be respected.
Neither domestic, nor social, nor national, nor ecclesiasticaldespotismcan
survive beyond a certaintime. The aspirations of the human soul for freedom
will not be denied. If not permitted a wise and rightful form of action, they
will take improper and harmful ones.

III. THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT IN MAN. Philosophy has tried to silence
the voice of faith; it has undertaken to rebuke the disciples; and it has
temporarily and superficially succeeded. Butit has found that so deep and so
strong is the religious sentiment in man that when religion is driven down
below the surface it comes out againin superstition in some form or other.
The sense ofthe Supreme, a yearning of the human heart for the living God, is
not to be erasedfrom the soul, is not to be removed from the life of man.
IV. DEFINITE RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS. Thesealso are not to be
suppressed. Men have takenvery various views of the doctrines of the
Christian faith; and, as we know too well, opponents have not only
"rebuked," but tried arrogantly and forcibly to silence, those who have
differed from them. But they have not succeeded. Religious convictionis an
inextinguishable force; slain in the persons of its champions, it rises againand
reappears, oftenin tenfold power.
V. RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM. To this the words of our Lord primarily and
most properly apply. Religious fervour may frequently be disposedto take a
form which we do not think the best, or eventhe suitable and becoming. But
we must take care how we deal with it. It is not a thing to be suppressed;it is
to be encouragedandenlightened and guided. It is, or it has within it, a true,
living power; this poweris of God, and is for good. Abruptly and harshly
rebuked and silenced, it will only assertitself in other and probably still more
questionable forms. Treatedwith Christian sympathy and encouragement(see
Luke 10:49, 50), informed and enlightened by superior intelligence, directed
into wise channels, it may do a noble work for the Masterand mankind.
1. Let not a young enthusiasm be mindful only of its own exuberance;let it be
regardful of the judgment and feeling of experience.

2. Let experience be tolerant of eager-heartedenthusiasm, and be prepared to
count it amongstits friends. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
Ascending up to Jerusalem.
Luke 19:28-40
Christ journeying to Jerusalem
Expository Outlines.
I. THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WENT. The only occasiononwhich we
find Him riding. Fulfilment of a prophecy.
II. THE RECEPTIONHE MET WITH.
III. THE SORROW OF WHICH HE WAS THE SUBJECT,
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ACCLAMATIONS HE RECEIVED.

1. A benevolent wish.
2. An alarming sentence.
3. A melancholy prediction.Conclusion:Let us remember for our warning,
that gospelopportunities when slighted will not be long continued.
(Expository Outlines.)
"He went before
P. B. Power, M. A.
These are some of the thoughts which are suggestedto our minds, as we see
Jesus in the Scripture before us, taking the first place in the progress to
Jerusalemand death. The position was emblematicalas wellas actual;and it
suggestssome teachings for us which are very calculatedto bring comfort to
our souls. Let us glance, first of all, for a moment, at the motion and position
in itself. See the alacrity and willingness of Jesus to enter all suffering for us.
And what do we learn here, but that His heart was in the sadwork which He
had undertaken to do. The thoroughness of Christ's love is brought before us
here. He was thorough in love. Mark, too, Christ's assumption of the position
of a leader. He knew the place that had been assignedto Him by the Father;it
was headship in suffering, as wellas in glory; He took up at once, in that last
journey, His rightful place. See, too, how our blessedLord takes up a double
position. He is at once leader and companion; His little company were one
with Him; He with them; but yet a little before them. He talks with us, while
He goes on before;He does not separate the leader and the companion; His
lordship over us is so sweet, thatHe heads us as friends; having a common
interest in all He does. And now, there is greatteaching and comforting for us

in all this. In the first place, we who follow Christ have to explore no untried,
untrodden way. It is thus our comfort that we have always one to look to.
Ours is no interminable road, no lonely, solitary path. Jesus, if only we can see
aright, is never very far ahead. The mowers who mow in line, have much
more heart during the burden and heat of the day, when their scythes sweep
through the grass, keeping time to the stroke of a fellow-workmanin front.
The steadfastness ofChrist's purpose is also forcibly suggestedto us here.
Firmly and intelligently, with a full knowledge ofthe indignity and death
before Him, our Lord started forth, and took the headship of His little band
on His way to Jerusalem. Thatsteadfastnessis of immense importance to us.
Were there the leastwavering in Christ's character, we were undone. And we
hold on to this steadfastnessnow. We believe Him to be the same yesterday,
and to-day, and for ever; we see Him now acting from the cross, in the same
spirit wherewith He journeyed to it. And now, let us in our trial-times see how
Jesus has "gone before" in all. Is the path of weariness the one marked out for
us; behold upon it the One who satweariedupon Jacob's well;no longer
weary, it is true, but remembering well all earth's wearinessesofbody and
spirit; and offering us His company on the trying path. Or, is it that of
rejection? No thornier road is there on earth than that of biting poverty —
poverty, with all its temptations and stings; well! Jesus was poor, and
hungered and athirst, and had not where to lay His head. Before the poor;
right on upon this path, is the figure of the Lord; let them but feel that He is
their Lord, and they shall no longerbe distressedat being the world's casts-
off; our being a cast-offof the world will not much matter, if we be
companions of the Son of God. Then comes deathitself — the last journey; the
way from which human nature shrinks; the one which, despite rank or
wealth, it must surely tread. Here, if we be inclined to faint, Jesus canbe seen
by His people, if only they believe.
(P. B. Power, M. A.)
The Lord hath need of him
The Lord's need

J. B. Meharry, B. A.
This trifling incident contains big principles.
I. It gives us AN IDEA OF PROVIDENCE. Tendencyofthe age is to the seen.
But mind kicks againstit. Mind is like a bird, which pines in a cage. Here is
hope for religion— the mind kicks againstartificialconditionings. If you like
you may saythe mind likes, like a bird, to make its nest. True! but it wants
above it not a ceiling but a sky. You can't cramp mind in your nutshell
organizations. Shut it behind walls — and then it will ask, Who is on the other
side of the wall? Providence involves two things. First — idea of God
preserving, guarding our being and well-being. He preserves, though we don't
see the way. How did Christ know that the colt was to be found at this stated
moment? and that the ownerwould part with his property? Similarly, we
must allow for the knowledge ofGod. The secondthing involved in
Providence is the idea of government.
II. IN PROVIDENCE ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO LITTLE THINGS AS
WELL AS GREAT. "A colttied." It is demeaning God's economy — some
will say. That all depends on your conceptionof God's economy. He numbers
the hairs of our head. He sees whenthe sparrow falls.
III. GOD HOLDS EVERY CREATURE RESPONSIBLE TO SHOW ITSELF
WHEN WANTED. Everything, in God's order, has its time, and is not itself
till that time reveals it. Sea-wrack onthe sea-beachis ugly, slimy, hideous. But
the same sea-wrack in a pool? How it spreads itself and makes everytiny
filament beautiful! So prophecy in human history needs to be corroboratedby
the event, before it can fairly be understood. Apparently little events — what
worlds of goodor evil may turn on them!
IV. SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. They go to the man for the
colt. Would not common sense ask, Whathave you to do with the colt?

Simply, "The Masterhath need of him." You have a favourite daughter. One
day she is not well — only a cold, you think. But she grows feverish, and you
call in the doctor. Doctorprescribes, but still the sweetone sickens;and one
day in his solemn look the mother reads the hard sentence — her child must
die. Why is it? "The Lord hath need of it."
(J. B. Meharry, B. A.)
One Lord
"The Lord our God is one Lord," so there may be no debate about the
direction of our worship, about the Ownerof our powers, about the Redeemer
of our souls. See how this operates in practicallife. The disciples might
naturally feel some little difficulty about going to take another's man's
property; so the Lord said unto them, "If any man say ought unto you, ye
shall say the Lord hath need of them, and straightwayhe will send them." But
suppose there had been a thousand lords, the question would have arisen,
which of them? But there is one Lord, and His name is the key which opens
every lock;His name is the mighty powerwhich beats down every mountain
and every wall, and makes the rough places plain. What poetry there is here!
Why, this is the very poetry of faith. It is not mere faith; it is faith in flower,
faith in blossom, faith in victory!
Thefulfilment of minute prophecies
J. Parker, D. D.
Not the fulfilment of sublime predictions, so called;but the fulfilment of little,
specific, minute, detailed prophecies. Goddoes nothing unnecessarily, speaks
nothing that seems exaggerationor superabundance. There is a meaning in
the most delicate tint with which He hath varied any leaf; there is a
significance in the tiniest drop of dew which ever sphered itself in beauty on
the eyelids of the morning. And that Christ should go into Jerusalemupon an
ass, and a colt the foal of an ass!That is not decorative talk; that is not mere

flowery prophecy, or incidental or tributary foretelling. In all that we should
accountlittle and of inconsequentialmoment is fulfilled to the letter. What
then? If God be carefulof such crumbs of prophecy, such little detailed lines
of prediction, what of the life of His children, the redeemed life of His
Church? If not one tittle could fall to the ground respecting things of this kind
— matters of order, arrangement, sequence — is He unrighteous to forgetthe
greaterwhen He remembers the less? Will He count the hairs upon your
head, and let the head itself be bruised? Will He paint the grass, and let the
man fall to decay? Is He careful about birds floating in the air, and careless
about lives redeemed by the sacrificialbloodof His Son?
(J. Parker, D. D.)
Ownership
J. Bolton, B. A.
A nobleman who had a magnificent garden was ill in bed, and orderedhis
butler to go into the hot-house and bring him the finest bunch of grapes he
could find. He came to the hot-house, he openedthe door, he examined all the
clusters — he fixed on the best— he brought out his knife and cut it. Just as
he did so, a cry was raised, "There's a man in the hot-house I there's a man in
the hot-house!" The gardeners, young and old, dropped their spades and
water-pots, and ran to the hot-house. As they glancedthrough the glass, sure
enough, there stoodthe man, and in his hand the Queen Cluster — the very
one which they had been watching for months — the one which was to take
the prize at the Horticultural Show I They were furious — they were ready to
kill .him — they rushed in and seizedhim by the collar, "What are you
about!" they said, "How dare you! — you thief! — you rascal! — you
vagabond!" Why does not he turn pale? — why does he keepso cool? — why
does he smile? He says something — the gardeners are silent in a moment —
they hang their beads — they look ashamed— they ask his pardon — they go
back to their work. What did he say to make such a sudden change? Simply
this — "Men! my lord bade me come here and cut him the very finest bunch
of grapes I could find." That was it! The gardeners felt that the hot-house, the

vine, and every clusteron it was his. They might call it theirs, and propose to
do this and that with it — but really and truly it was his who built the house,
and bought the vine, and paid them for attending to it. Just so, dear children,
the Lord has a claim on all we possess;our souls, our bodies, our tongues, our
time, our talents, our memories, our money, our influence, our beloved
relatives. "Ye are not your own";and wheneverHe has need of anything we
must let it go" — we must learn to yield it up to Him as cheerfully as the
owneryielded up his colt.
(J. Bolton, B. A.)
Why we are needful to God
Christian Age.
"Why was it?" askedMrs. N—— of her own heart as she was walking
homewards from the communion-table. "Why was it?" she almost
unconsciouslyexclaimedaloud. "Oh, I wish somebodycould tell me!" "Could
tell you what?" said a pleasantvoice behind her, and looking around, she saw
her pastorand his wife approaching. "Could you tell me," said she, "why the
Saviour died for us? I have never heard it answeredto my satisfaction. You
will sayit was because He loved us; but why was that love? He certainly did
not need us, and in our sinful state there was nothing in us to attract His
love." "I may suppose, Mrs. N——," said her pastor, "that it would be no loss
for you to lose your deformed little babe. You have a large circle of friends,
you have other children, and a kind husband. You do not need the deformed
child; and what use is it?" "Oh, sir," said Mrs. N—, "I could not part with my
poor child. I do need him. I need his love. I would rather die than fail of
receiving it." "Well," said her pastor, "does God love His children less than
earthly, sinful parents do?" "I never lookedupon it in that way before," said
Mrs. N.
(Christian Age.)

Every goodman is needful to complete God's design
Austin Phelps.
An expert mechanicianconstructs a certain axle, tempered and burnished, to
fit the hub of a certain wheel, which againhe fashions as elaboratelyto fit the
axle, so that a microscope detectsno flaw; and now nothing can take the place
of either but itself; and eachis labour lost without the other. True, they are
only an axle and a wheel, eacha single one, a minute one, a fragile one; not
costlyin material, nor remarkable in structure; but in the absence ofeither,
the chronometerwhich should decide the arrival of England's fleet at
Trafalgarmust hang motionless. Everygood man is such a fragmentary and
related instrument in the hands of God. He is never for an hour an isolated
thing. He belongs to a system of things in which everything is dovetailed to
another thing. Yet no two are duplicates. Nothing can ever be spared from it.
The systemhas no holidays. Through man's most dreamless slumbers it
moves on, without waiting for delinquents.
(Austin Phelps.)
Blessedbe the King that cometh
Jesus our meek and humble King
Stauss.
I. OUR KING IN HUMILITY.
1. Jesus is our King.
(1)The prophecies announce Him as such. (Isaiah9:6; Zechariah 9:9.)
(2)He avowedHimself a King. (Matthew 11:27; John 18:37.)

(3)He proved by the powerof His will that He was a King. (Matthew 21:3.)
2. Jesus is our humble King.
(1)He refused royal honours. (John 6:15.)
(2)In opposition to the presumption of the Jews, He would never actnor
appear as King. (John 18:36.)
(3)He debasedHimself in all humility.
3. Follow Him in His humility.
(1)By contrition and a sincere confessionofyour sins.
(2)By resignationin adversities.
(3)By humility in earthly happiness.
II. OUR MEEK KING. This may be seen —
1. From the purpose of His coming — of His Incarnation. He comes as a
Friend and Saviour; and wants to be loved, not feared.

2. From His earthly life.
(1)He was full of love and mercy towards the suffering, whom He invited to
come to Him.
(2)He was full of mercy and tenderness towards sinners and His own enemies.
3. From the experience ofyour own life. Jesus came to you as a meek King —
(1)In your afflictions, to console you.
(2)In your sins, which He bore in patience.
(3)In your conversion, the work of His mercy. Strip yourself of the old man
with his deeds, as the Jews stripped themselves of their garments, and let
Jesus walk overyour former self.
4. Learn of your King to be meek of heart also. (Matthew 11:29.)
(1)As a superior towards your subjects.
(2)Towards sinners and your enemies.

(3)In tribulations and afflictions.
(Stauss.)
Praise thy God, O Zion
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. First, we shall observe here DELIGHTFUL PRAISE. In the thirty-seventh
verse every word is significant, and deserves the careful notice of all who
would learn aright the lessonofhow to magnify the Saviour.
1. To begin with, the praise rendered to Christ was speedypraise. The happy
choristers did not wait till He had entered the city, but "whenHe was come
nigh, even now, at the descentof the Mount of Olives, they began to rejoice."
It is well to have a quick eye to perceive occasionsforgratitude.
2. It strikes us at once, also, that this was unanimous praise. Observe, not only
the multitude, but the whole multitude of the disciples rejoiced, and praised
Him; not one silent tongue among the disciples — not one who withheld his
song. And yet, I suppose, those disciples had their trials as we have ours.
3. Next, it was multitudinous. "The whole multitude." There is something
most inspiriting and exhilarating in the noise of a multitude singing God's
praises.
4. Still it is worthy of observationthat, while the praise was multitudinous, it
was quite select. It was the whole multitude "of the disciples." The Pharisees
did not praise Him — they were murmuring. All true praise must come from
true hearts. If thou dost not. learn of Christ, thou canstnot render to Him
acceptable song.

5. Then, in the next place, you will observe that the praise they rendered was
joyful praise. "The whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice." I hope
the doctrine that Christians ought to be gloomy will soonbe driven out of the
universe.
6. The next point we must mention is, that it was demonstrative praise. They
praised Him with their voices, and with a loud voice. If not with loud voices
actually in sound, yet we would make the praise of God loud by our actions,
which speak louder than any words; we would extol Him by greatdeeds of
kindness, and love, and self-denial, and zeal, that so our actions may assistour
words.
7. The praise rendered, however, though very demonstrative, was very
reasonable;the reasonis given — "for all the mighty works that they had
seen." We have seenmany mighty works which Christ has done.
8. With another remark, I shall close this first head — the reasonfor their joy
was a personalone. There is no praise to God so sweatas that which flows
from the man who has tasted that the Lord is gracious.
II. I shall now lead you on to the secondpoint — their praise found vent for
itself in AN APPROPRIATE SONG. "Blessedbe the King that cometh in the
name of the Lord. Peacein heaven, and glory in the highest."
1. It was an appropriate song, if you will remember that it had Christ for its
subject.

2. This was an appropriate song, in the next place, because it had God for its
object; they extolledGod, God in Christ, when they thus lifted up their voices.
3. An appropriate song, because it had the universe for its scope. The
multitude sung of peace in heaven, as though the angels were establishedin
their peacefulseats by the Saviour, as though the war which God had waged
with sin was over now, because the conquering King was come. Oh, let us seek
after music which shall be fitted for other spheres!I would begin the music
here, and so my soul should rise. Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear my
passions to the skies!It was appropriate to the occasion, becausethe universe
was its sphere.
4. And it seems also to have been most appropriate, because it had gratitude
for its spirit.
III. Thirdly, and very briefly — for I am not going to give much time to these
men — we have INTRUSIVE OBJECTIONS."Master, rebuke Thy
disciples." But why did these Phariseesobject?
1. I suppose it was, first of all, because they thought there would be no praise
for them.
2. They were jealous of the people.
3. They were jealous of Jesus.

IV. We come now to the lastpoint, which is this — AN UNANSWERABLE
ARGUMENT. He said, "If these should hold their peace, the very stones
would cry out." Brethren, I think that is very much our case;if we were not to
praise God, the very stones might cry out againstus. We must praise the
Lord. Woe is unto us if we do not! It is impossible for us to hold our tongues.
Savedfrom hell and be silent! Secure of heavenand be ungrateful! Bought
with precious blood, and hold our tongues! Filled with the Spirit and not
speak!
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The triumphal entry
David Gregg.
Christ's triumphal entrance into Jerusalemis one of the most noted scenes in
gospelstory. It is a sun-burst in the life of the Son of Man. It is a typal
coronation. It is a fore-gleamof that coming day when Jesus shall be
enthroned by the voice of the universe.
I. THE SCENE.
II. THE CHIEF LESSON INCULCATED BY THE SCENE:ENTHUSIASM
SHOULD BE CONSECRATEDTO THE SERVICE OF CHRIST. There was
feeling and thrill and deep life and outbursting emotion in the triumphal entry
of Jesus into Jerusalem, and He approved it all. I argue for the equipment of
enthusiasm in the service of Christ. There should be a fervency of spirit that
will radiate both light and heat. The faculties should be on fire. There are
higher moods and lowermoods in the Christian life, just as there are higher
moods and lower moods in the intellectual life. Every scholarknows that there
are such things as inspirational moods, when all the faculties awakenand
kindle and glow; when the heart burns within; when the mind is automatic,
and works without a spur; when the mental life is intense; when all things

seempossible;when the very best in the man puts itself into the product of his
pen; when the judgment is quick and active, the reasonclearand far-seeing,
and the consciencekeenand sensitive. These are the moods in which we glory.
These are the moods which give the world its long-lived masterpieces.These
are the moods which we wish to enthrone in the memories of our friends. You
remember Charles Dickens'scharming story, "David Copperfield." In it there
is pictured the parting that took place betweenthe two young men, Steerforth
and Copperfield. Young Steerforth, putting both hands upon Copperfield's
shoulders, says:"Let us make this bargain! If circumstances shouldseparate
us, and you should see me no more, remember me at my best." Steerforth is
only a type of us all. Every one of us wishes to be remembered at his best. I
argue for man's best in the religious life. Man is at his best only when he is
enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is power. It is the locomotive so full of steamthat it
hisses at every crack and crevice and joint. Such a locomotive carries the train
with the speedof wind through hill and overvalley. It has been enthusiasm
that has carried the Christian Church through the attainments of ages. By
enthusiasm, when it is in an eminent degree, men propagate themselves upon
others in matters of taste, of affection, and of religion. Iron cannot be wielded
at a low temperature. There must be heat, and then you canweld iron to iron.
So you cannot weld natures to eachother when they are at a low temperature.
Mind cannot take hold of mind nor faculty of faculty, when they are not in a
glow. But when they are in a glow they can. We see this exemplified in society.
Hundreds and hundreds of men, who are rich in learning, ponderous in
mental equipment, ample in philosophicalpower, who are low in degree of
temperature, and who labour all their life, achieve but little. You see right by
the side of these men, men who have no comparison with them in native power
or in culture, but who have simplicity, straightforwardness, and, above all,
intensity, and what of them? Why, this: they are eminent in accomplishing
results. There are people, I know, who have an antipathy to enthusiasm and
emotion in religion. They objectthat we cannotrely upon enthusiasm. They
forgotthat if it spring from the grace ofGod it has an inexhaustible fountain.
One hour enthusiastic people cry "Hosanna";but the next hour they cry
"Crucify." I deny that the hosanna people of Jerusalemevercried "crucify."
The charge that they did is without a single line of Scripture as a basis. Peter
and James and John, and men of that class, did they cry "crucify"? Yet the

hosanna people were made up of such. In a city in which there were gathered
from all parts of the nation not less than two millions, there were certainly
enough people of diverse minds to create two parties diametrically opposed,
without requiring us to slander the grace of enthusiasm, and circulate false
reports about the hosanna people. I stand by the hosanna people, and
fearlesslyassertthat there is no proof againsttheir integrity. Enthusiasm I
That is what the Church needs. It is only the enthusiast who succeeds. Enter
the history of the cause of Christ, and there also will you find the statement
borne out. What was Paul, the chief of Christian workers, but an enthusiast?
Rob Paul of his enthusiasm, and you blot out of existence the churches of
Corinth and Ephesus and Galatia and ThessalonicaandTroas. Robhim of his
enthusiasm and you annihilate the Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians,
Ephesians, and the PastoralEpistles. This day of palm branches has been
duplicated and reduplicated ever since the triumphal entrance of Jesus into
Jerusalem, and this reduplication will continue until Jesus is ultimately and
for evercrowned on the great day of final consummation. The world is full of
hosannas to the Son of David. The humble Christian schoolof the missionary
in foreign lands is a hosanna sounding through the darkness of heathendom.
The philanthropic institution that rises into sight all over Christendom is a
hosanna to the Son of David echoing through civilization. The gorgeous
cathedral, standing like a mountain of beauty, is a hosanna to the Son of
David workedinto stone and echoing itself in the realm of art. The holy life of
every disciple, which is seenon every continent of the earth, is a hosanna to
the Sonof David ringing throughout all humanity. These hosannas shallbe
kept until the end come, and then all the universe of God's redeemed will peal
forth the grand Hallel in the hearing of eternity.
(David Gregg.)
Enthusiasm in religion
David Gregg.

What is your religion if it have no enthusiasm in it? Who wants a wooden
Christianity or a logicalChristianity only? Christianity loses its powerwhen it
loses its pathos. Every religion goes downwardwhen it loses the power of
exciting the highest, most intelligent, and most courageousenthusiasm. Some
of us have need to be cautioned againstdecorum. Alas! there are some
Christian professors who do not know what it is to have a moment of
transport and ecstasy, unutterable emotion — who never, never go awayupon
the wings of light and hope, but are always standing, almost shivering —
eating up their dry logic, and never knowing where the blossom, the poetry,
and the ecstasymay be found. Christianity should excite our emotion and
make us sometimes talk rapturously, and give us, sometimes at least, moments
of inspiration, self-deliverance, andvictory. It was so in the case before us.
The whole city was moved. There was passion, there was excitementon every
hand. But, then, am I advocating nothing but emotion, sensibility,
enthusiasm? Far from it. First of all, let there be intelligent apprehension, and
profound conviction respecting truth. Let us see that our foundations,
theologicaland ethical, are deep, broad, immovable. Then let us carry up the
building until it breaks out into glittering points, farflashing pinnacles, and
becomes brokeninto beauty.
(David Gregg.)
The coming King
J. Treanor, B. A.
I. THE ESTIMATE FORMED OF OUR LORD BY THE CROWD. "King."
II. HIS CREDENTIALS. "In the name of the Lord." Divine commission
attested.
1. By His words.

2. By His works.
III. THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME WITH THE KING. "Peace" and
"glory."
IV. THESE BLESSINGS ACCOMPANYEVERYADVENT OF "THE KING
THAT COMETHIN THE NAME OF THE LORD."
1. It was so at His first coming.
2. It shall be so at His secondcoming. It is so when the King comes to reign in
the sinner's heart.
(J. Treanor, B. A.)
Hosannas to Jesus
N. H. Van Arsdale.
I. THAT WHICH MAKES MEN ILLUSTRIOUS, AND WORTHY OF
DISTINCTION — lofty genius, heroism, expansive benevolence, mighty
achievements — all that intensified and sublimely illustrated to a degree
infinitely beyond what is possible to attainment by ordinary mortals,
DISTINGUISHES THE LORD JESUS, AND ENTITLES HIM TO OUR
HOMAGE AND PRAISE, Take —
1. Genius. What is genius? Genius originates, invents, creates.Talent
reproduces that which has been, and still is. The spindles in our mills, the
locomotives in our shops represent genius. The swift play of the one, and the
majestic tread of the other across the continents on paths of steel, is genius in

motion. Now turn the light of these definitions upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
and see if He has not genius worthy of our best praise. It were folly to deny
creative genius to Him, by whose wordthe worlds sprang into being, and by
whose powerthey continue to exist. It were folly to deny originality to the
Alpha and Omega of all mind and matter, life and spirit. Folly againto deny
superior intellectual acumen to Him, who is the light of all intellect, the
inspirer of all right thought, the incentive to all noble action. The blind saw,
and the deaf heard, and the dumb spake, and the dead awoke. As to the
modifying influence which Coleridge says is implied in the highest type of
genius, it has been truly affirmed: The genius of Christ, exerted through His
gospelin which His Spirit presides, has made itself felt in all the different
relations and modifications of life. Take the next elementof distinction that
men applaud.
2. Heroism. Spontaneous is the homage paid to heroes. In some lands they are
deified and worshipped. Heroism! Produce anotherexample, such as Jesus of
Nazareth, from the long list of the world's illustrious! Take the next quality in
lofty manhood that men extol —
3. Benevolence. Ofthis Jesus was the perfect personification.
4. Wonderful achievementreceives applause from men. The multitude praised
God "for all the mighty works that they had seen." Our works may be good,
Christ's are mighty as wellas good. We visit the sick, Christ cures them.
II. HIS PRAISES HAVE BEEN SUNG IN ALL AGES, ON ACCOUNT OF
HIS WORTHINESS OF ALL HOMAGE IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH.
Abraham, the representative of the patriarchal age, lookedforwardto His day
with glad anticipations, and praised the promised seed. Jacob, in his dying
predictions, sang of the Shiloh, and waited for His salvation. Moses chosefor

the subjectof his eulogy the Prophet like unto himself, unto whom the people
should hearken. David in exalted strains sang of His characterand works, His
trials and triumphs, His kingdom and glory, and died exulting, "Blessedbe
the Lord God of Israelfrom everlasting and to everlasting. Let the whole
earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen." The prophets all rejoicedin
Zion's delivery and Judah's King. At His birth, angels and shepherds and
sages sangHis praises. As in some of the old monasteries one choir of monks
relieved another choir in order that the service of praise might not cease,so as
one generationof the children of Godhas retired to its rest, another has
caught up the glad strains of hosannas to Christ, and in this way they have
been perpetuated down the centuries.
III. THERE ARE THOSE, HOWEVER, WHO WOULD INTERRUPT THE
PRAISES OF GOD'S PEOPLE:YEA, WORSE, SUPPRESS THEM
ALTOGETHER. We learn from our text that this was the desire of the
Pharisees onthis occasion. Thus, the wickedand unbelieving now would stop
all ascriptions of praise to Christ. They would quench the flames of devotion
that the Holy Ghost kindles in the hearts of believers. "Praise Nature!Sing
odes to the landscape!Worship the beautiful in what your eyes see, the
tangible, that of which you have positive knowledge through the certification
of your senses!Don't be wasting your devotion on the unseen, the
unknowable, the mythical, the intangible!" — so says the Agnostic. "Do
homage to Reason!Let Reasonbe the object of your worship; its cultivation
the effort of your life! What wonders it has accomplishedin science and
philosophy!" — so says the Rationalist. "Sing of wine, feasting, sensuality!
Bacchus is our god. Praise him! Worship him!" says the Profligate. "Sing of
wars, and of victories, and of conquests!Apollo is the god whom we worship,
and whose praises we resound. Therefore, spreadyour palms with paeans of
triumph at the feet of victors!" — so sayConquerors. Standing erect, with his
thumbs thrust in the arm-holes of his vest, his chestthrown forward and his
head backward, like an oily, overfed, bigoted Pharisee, "Sing ofme," says the
Self-Righteous. "Praise the Saviour!" says the believer, and the call receives a
response.

(N. H. Van Arsdale.)
The stones would immediately cry out
Guilty silence in Christ's cause
W. Jay.
I. Our Saviour means to intimate, that THIS SILENCE WOULD BE VILE.
Let us, then, proceedwith this dismal business, and arraign this fearful
silence.
1. We tax it, first, with the most culpable ignorance. If you found a man, who
was entirely insensible to Milton's "Paradise Lost," orCowper's "Task,"
dead to the touches of Raffael's pencil, to all the beautiful and sublime scenery
of nature, to all that is illustrious and inspiring in human dispositionand
action, you would be ready to say, "Why, this senselessnessis enough to make
a stone speak." Butwhere are we now? Men may be undeserving of the praise
they obtain; or if the praise be deserved in the reality, it may be excessivein
the degree;but there can be no excesshere. It is impossible to ascribe titles too
magnificent, attributes too exalted, adorations too intense, to Him who is
"fairer than the children of men," who is the "chiefamong ten thousand, and
the altogetherlovely." Now to be insensible to such a Being as this, argues, not
merely a want of intellectual, but of moral taste, and evinces, not only
ignorance, but depravity. He who died, not for a country, but for the world,
and for a world of enemies — He awakens no emotion, no respect. Shame,
shame!
2. We charge this silence, secondly, with the blackestingratitude I need not
enlarge on this hateful vice. The proverb says, "Calla man ungrateful, and
you callhim everything that is bad." The Lacedaemonianspunished
ingratitude. "The ungrateful," says Locke, "are like the sea;continually
receiving the refreshing showers of heaven, and turning them all into salt."

"The ungrateful," says South, "are like the grave; always receiving, and never
returning." But nothing can equal your ingratitude, if you are silent. For you
will observe, that other beneficiaries may have some claim upon their
benefactors, from a community of nature or from the command of God; but
we have no claim, we are unworthy of the leastof all His mercies.
3. We tax this silence with shameful cruelty. We arc bound to do all the good
in our power. If we have ourselves receivedthe knowledge ofChrist, we are
bound to impart it. If the inhabitants of a village were dying of a disease, and
you had the remedy, and held your peace;if you saw a fellow-creature going
to drink a deadly poison, and instead of warning him you held your peace;if
you saw evena poor stranger going to pass over a deep and deadly river, upon
a broken bridge, and you knew that a little lower down there was a marble
one, and you held your peace;is there a person, that would ever pass you
without standing still and looking round upon you and exclaiming, "You
detestable wretch, you infamous villain, you ought not to live!" "If these
should hold their peace, the stones would cry out." How is it, then, that we
have so much less moral feeling than the lepers had, when they said, "This is a
goodday," and reflecting upon their starving babes said, "If we altogether
hold our peace, some evilwill befall us; let us therefore go and tell the king's
household"?
II. Secondly, our Saviour seems to intimate, that THIS SILENCE IS
DIFFICULT. Now we often express a difficulty by an obvious impossibility.
The Jews said, "LetHim come down from the cross, and we will believe on
Him." Their meaning was, that they could not believe on Him; for the
condition seemedto them impossible. The Saviour here says, "Youimpose
silence upon these disciples, but this is impossible; yes, they will hold their
peace whendumb nature shall become vocal, and not before." "If these
should hold their peace, the stones would cry out;" that is, their principles will
actuate them, their feelings must have operationand utterance. If you could
enter heaven, you would find that there He attracts every eye, and fills every

heart, and employs every tongue. And in the Church below there is a degree
of the same inspiration.
1. The impressions that Christ makes upon His people by conviction are very
powerful.
2. The impressions He produces by hope are very powerful.
3. The impressions He produces by love are very powerful. He so attaches His
disciples to Himself by esteemand gratitude, as to induce them to come out of
the world, to deny themselves, to take up their cross, andto be willing to
follow the Lamb whithersoeverHe goeth.
III. Our Saviour here intimates further, that THIS SILENCE WOULD BE
USELESS. "If," says He, "those of whom you complain were to hold their
peace, you would gain nothing by their silence;there would not be a cessation
of My praise, but only a change ofinstruments and voices;rather than My
praise should be suspended, what they decline others would be sure to rise up
to perform; if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out."
1. First, we shall glance at the supposed silence.
2. And, secondly, observe the improbable instruments that are employed to
perpetuate the testimony. It is not said, "If these should hold their peace the
angels would cry out, men would cry out"; no; "the stones would cry out."
Can stones live? can stones preachand write and translate the Scriptures?
Can they aid in carrying on such a cause as this? Why not? He can employ,
and often does employ, the most unlikely characters. The wrathof man

praiseth Him. We see this in the case ofHenry the Eighth. It is of great
importance to know whether we are God's servants, or whether we are God's
enemies;but as to Him, He can employ one as well as another. This was the
case with Saul of Tarsus. He was a persecutoronce;but then he was called by
Divine grace, andpreach the faith that once he endeavouredto destroy. All
the Lord's people once were enemies:but He found a way into their hearts,
and He made them friends. They were all once "stones";but of these stones
God has "raisedup children unto Abraham." They were as hard as stones, as
insensible as stones, as coldas stones;but they are now flesh, and every feeling
of this flesh is alive to God.
3. Thirdly, notice the readiness of their appearance. "Ifthese should hold
their peace, the stones wouldimmediately cry out." "The King's business
requires haste";both because ofits importance, and the fleeting uncertainty
of the period in which He will allow it to be performed.
4. Then, lastly, observe the certainty of their appearance, whenthey become
necessary. The certainty of the end infers the certainty of all that is
intermediately necessaryto it. Upon this principle, our Saviour here speaks;it
is, I am persuaded, the very spirit of the passage. "Mypraise" — as if He
should say— "must prevail; and therefore means must be forthcoming to
accomplishit, and to carry it on." Let us, first, apply this certainty as the
prevention of despair. Secondly; as a check to vanity and pride. My brethren
in the ministry, we are not — no, we are not essentialto the Redeemer's cause.
We are not the Atlases upon which the Church depends; the government is
upon His shoulders who filleth all in all. Thirdly; as a spur and diligence and
zeal.
(W. Jay.)

All ought to praise God
J. Parker, D. D.
Have we not heard, or have I not tom you years ago, ofsome greatconductor
of a musical festival suddenly throwing up his baton and stopping the
proceedings, saying "Flageolete!" The flageoletewas notdoing its part of the
greatmusical utterance. The conductorhad an earthat heard every strain
and tone. You and I probably would have heard only the greatvolume of
music, and would have been glad to listen with entrancedattention to its
invisible charm, but the man who was all ear noted the absence ofone
instrument, and throwing up his baton, he said, "Flageolet."Stoptill we get
all that is within us into this musical offering. So I want our hymn of praise to
be sung by every man, by every power in his soul.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(40) If these should hold their peace.—Here, then, at the very moment when
He foresaw mostclearly His own approaching end, and the failure of all
earthly hopes of the city overwhich He wept, our Lord acceptedeveryword
that disciples or multitude had uttered of Him as being in the fullest sense
true.
The stones would immediately cry out.—The startling imagery had a
precedentin the language of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:11), “The stone shall
cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answerit.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
19:28-40 Christ has dominion over all creatures, and may use them as he
pleases. He has all men's hearts both under his eye and in his hand. Christ's
triumphs, and his disciples' joyful praises, vex proud Pharisees, who are
enemies to him and to his kingdom. But Christ, as he despises the contempt of
the proud, so he accepts the praises of the humble. Phariseeswouldsilence the
praises of Christ, but they cannot; for as God can out of stones raise up
children unto Abraham, and turn the stony heart to himself, so he can bring
praise out of the mouths of children. And what will be the feelings of men
when the Lord returns in glory to judge the world!
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
The stones would ...cryout - It is "proper" that they should celebrate my
coming. Their acclamations"ought" not to be suppressed. So joyful is the
event which they celebrate - the coming of the Messiah - that it is not fit that I
should attempt to impose silence on them. The expressionhere seems to be
"proverbial," and is not to be takenliterally. Proverbs are designedto express
the truth "strongly," but are not to be takento signify as much as if they were
to be interpreted literally. The sense is, that his coming was an event of so
much importance that it "ought" to be celebratedin some way, and "would"
be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrainthe people, and improper to
attempt it. The language here is strong proverbial language to denote that
fact. We are not to suppose, therefore, that our Saviour meant to say that the
stones were "conscious"ofhis coming, or that God would "make" them
speak, but only that there was "greatjoy" among the people; that it was
"proper" that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fit
that he should attempt to repress it.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
40. the stones, &c.—Hitherto the Lord had discouragedall demonstrations in
His favor; latterly He had begun an opposite course;on this one occasionHe
seems to yield His whole soulto the wide and deep acclaimwith a mysterious
satisfaction, regarding it as so necessarya part of the regaldignity in which as
MessiahHe for this lasttime entered the city, that if not offeredby the vast

multitude, it would have been wrung out of the stones rather than be withheld
(Hab 2:11).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 19:39"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he answeredand said unto them, I tell you,.... As a truth, which may be
depended on, and you may be assuredof; this he spake with greatearnestness,
fervour, and courage:
that if these should hold their peace;be silent, and not sing the praises of God,
and ascribe glory to him, and profess the Messiah, and make this public
acknowledgmentof him:
the stones wouldimmediately cry out; either againstthem, or in a declaration
of the Messiah:by which expressionour Lord means, that it was impossible it
should be otherwise;it would be intolerable if it was not; and rather than it
should not be, God, who is able out of stones to raise up children to Abraham,
would make the stones speak, orturn stones into men, who should rise up and
praise the Lord, and confess the Messiah;hereby commending his disciples,
and tacitly reflecting upon the Pharisees, fortheir stupidity; and also giving a
hint of the conversionof the Gentiles, who might be compared to stones,
especiallyin the opinion of the Jews.
Geneva Study Bible
And he answeredand said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their
peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Luke 19:40 But Jesus answered, "Itell you, if these become silent, the stones
will cry out!"
Ps 96:11; 98:7-9;114:1-8;Isaiah 55:12;Habakkuk 2:11; Matthew 3:9;
21:15,16;Matthew 27:45,51-54;2 Peter2:6
Parallelaccounts ofTriumphal Entry - Mt 21:1-11;Mk 11:1-11;Lk 19:29-44,
John 12:12-19
Luke 19 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Luke 19:28-44 Why You Should Follow Jesus - StevenCole
Luke 19:28-40 Jesus'Humble Coronation, Part1 - John MacArthur
Luke 19:28-44 Jesus'Humble Coronation, Part2 - John MacArthur
JESUS PREDICTSA
"ROCKCONCERT!"
But Jesus answered, "Itell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"
- This statementby Jesus is found only in Luke's Gospelrecordof the
"Triumphal Entry." One writer quipped that if these became silent, it would
lead to a veritable "rock concert!"
This statementreminds me of Paul's personificationof all creationin Romans
writing that because ofsin and in anticipation of redemption of creationfrom
the effects ofsin "we know that the whole creationgroans and suffers the
pains of childbirth togetheruntil now.." (Ro 8:22-note) Are you groaning for

the soonrevelationof His glory and your final glorificationat your future day
of redemption (cf Eph 4:30-note)?
Matthew gives a different response from Jesus to the rebuke of the Pharisees
declaring...
“Yes;have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND
NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPAREDPRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”
(Mt 21:16bquoting from Ps 8:2a)
Psalm8:2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established
strength BecauseofYour adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful
cease.
Comment: Note that Jesus quotednot from the Hebrew text but from the
Septuagint version of the OT (which is the case with the majority of the OT
quotes recordedin the NT - they quote the Greek Septuagintrather than the
Hebrew) -
Here is the Greek ofMt 21:16 "ek stomatos nepion kaithelazonton katertiso
ainon"
Here is the Greek from the Lxx of Ps 8:2 "ek stomatos nepionkai thelazonton
katertiso ainon"

Why would the stones have cried out? BecauseGoddid not want the children
of Israel to miss THE MESSIAH! (Ps 96:11-13 98:7-9 Isa 55:12 Mt 3:9 Mt
27:54 Hab 2:11)
One writer says in one sense the stones criedout in Matthew 27:51-52
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the
earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleepwere raised;
Another stone that "cried out" was the one that was rolled from the entrance
of the tomb in Matthew 28:2
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angelof the Lord
descendedfrom heavenand came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
Comment: This stone has in a sense being crying out ever since proclaiming
the Messiahis alive! In fact a well knownbook was written about this event
entitled "Who Moved the Stone?" by Frank Morison.
Henry Morris - Even the inanimate creationis under God's control for He
made it, and the opposition of mere men to the fulfillment of prophecy is no
impediment to the Creatorand Sustainerof all things. When God created
Adam, He breathed life into the dust of the ground; He could do the same for
stones if need be. (Defender's Study Bible)

W A Criswell- If men will not recognize the significance ofthis day, the rocks
will find a voice to praise Jesus (Hab. 2:11). (Believer's Study Bible)
Matthew Henry - Christ's triumphs, and his disciples'joyful praises, vex
proud Pharisees, who are enemies to him and to his kingdom. But Christ, as
he despises the contempt of the proud, so he accepts the praises of the humble.
Pharisees wouldsilence the praises of Christ, but they cannot;for as God can
out of stones raise up children unto Abraham, and turn the stony heart to
himself, so he can bring praise out of the mouths of children. And what will be
the feelings of men when the Lord returns in glory to judge the world!
Brian Bill - I listened to a sermon snippet this week by Kempton Turner. He
said that when God calledthe frogs in the plague, they said, “ribit…yes,
Lord.” When Godcalled the flies, they said, “buzz…yes, Lord.” When God
calleda big fish to swallow a rebellious prophet, the whale opened his mouth
and said, “Yes, Lord.” They all said, “Yes, Lord.” In our passagefortoday,
the donkeyobeyed and declared, “Hee-haw, hee-haw. Yes, Lord.” The rocks
were ready to roll, “Yes, Lord.” And in Matthew 21:15 we read that the chief
priests were indignant when they heard the children saying “Yes, Lord” by
shouting out in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” I love how
Jesus correctsthem by quoting Psalm8:2: “Fromthe lips of children and
infants you have ordained praise.” How are you doing at giving what Jesus
wants – even when it’s not easy? Do you have moments in your schedule in
which you stop and break out into adoration? When you come here on
Sundays to worship collectivelywith others is it the culmination of a week of
personalworship experiences oris it your only time of praise? Friends, God
can make the stones cry out -- but He’d rather have men and women and boys
and girls who worship Him spontaneously, loudly, and regularly! (Sermon)
Spurgeon's Devotionalon Lk 19:40 - But could the stones cry out? Assuredly
they could if he who opens the mouth of the dumb should bid them lift up

their voice. Certainly if they were to speak, they would have much to testify in
praise of him who createdthem by the word of his power; they could extol the
wisdom and powerof their Makerwho calledthem into being. Shall not we
speak wellof him who made us anew, and out of stones raisedup children
unto Abraham? The old rocks could tell of chaos and order, and the
handiwork of God in successive stages ofcreation's drama; and cannot we
talk of God's decrees, ofGod's great work in ancient times, in all that he did
for his church in the days of old? If the stones were to speak, they could tell of
their breaker, how he took them from the quarry, and made them fit for the
temple, and cannot we tell of our glorious Breaker, who broke our hearts with
the hammer of his word, that he might build us into his temple? If the stones
should cry out they would magnify their builder, who polished them and
fashionedthem after the similitude of a palace;and shall not we talk of our
Architect and Builder, who has put us in our place in the temple of the living
God? If the stones could cry out, they might have a long, long story to tell by
way of memorial, for many a time hath a greatstone been rolled as a
memorial before the Lord; and we too cantestify of Ebenezers, stones ofhelp,
pillars of remembrance. The broken stones ofthe law cry out againstus, but
Christ himself, who has rolled awaythe stone from the door of the sepulchre,
speaks forus. Stones might well cry out, but we will not let them: we will hush
their noise with ours; we will break forth into sacredsong, and bless the
majesty of the MostHigh, all our days glorifying him who is calledby Jacob
the Shepherd and Stone of Israel.
Stones Cry Out
Read:Luke 19:28-40
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I tell you that if these should keepsilent, the stones would immediately cry
out. —Luke 19:40
Every year it seems that Christmas becomes more and more commercialized.
Even in nations where the majority of people call themselves “Christian,” the
seasonhas become more about shopping than worshiping. The pressure to
buy gifts and plan elaborate parties makes it increasinglydifficult to stay
focusedon the real meaning of the holiday—the birth of Jesus, God’s only
Son, the Savior of the world.
But every holiday I also hearthe gospelcoming from surprising places —the
very places that so commercialize Christmas—shopping malls. When I hear
“Joyto the World! The Lord is come;let earth receive her King” ringing
from public address systems, I think of the words Jesus saidto the Pharisees
who told Him to silence the crowds who were praising Him. “If they keep
quiet,” Jesus said, “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40 niv).
At Christmas we hear stones cry out. Even people spiritually dead sing carols
written by Christians long dead, reminding us that no matter how hard people
try to squelch the real messageofChristmas, they will never succeed.
Despite the commercialismthat threatens to muddle the message ofChrist’s
birth, God will make His goodnews knownas “far as the curse is found.”
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

—Watts
Keeping Christ out of Christmas is as futile as holding back the ocean’s tide.
By Julie AckermanLink (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries,
Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
The Stones Cry Out
Read:Luke 19:29-40
If these should keepsilent, the stones would immediately cry out. —Luke
19:40
I receiveda letter from a woman who told me she had grownup in a troubled
home. At an early age she ran away, begana life of crime, and spent time in
jail. Later, ensnared by drugs, she felt that the only way out of her sin-
darkenedlife was suicide.
At that point, because ofthe witness of two women who told her about Jesus,
she put her trust in the Saviorand found a reasonfor living. Soonshe wanted
to tell others about Jesus. She had some artistic ability, so she beganto paint
Bible verses and spiritual sayings on smoothstones she collectedfrom
beaches. She soldthem and used the money to aid missionary causes.Those
stones were her way of telling others about Jesus.

This woman’s story reminds me of what Jesus saidas He approached
Jerusalema few days before His crucifixion. The multitude declared, “Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38). When the
Pharisees toldJesus to quiet the crowd, He said that if the people were
silenced, even the stones would cry out (v.40).
Of course, Jesus wasn’ttalking about painted stones, but it is still true that
even if our verbal witness is silenced, there are all sorts of ways to tell others
about Christ. What “stones”canyou use to tell others of your Savior and
King?
Through transformed eyes, Lord, help us see
A world of people in despair,
And help us reachthem with Your love,
To show them that we really care. —Sper
I'm just a nobody telling everybody about Somebodywho can save anybody!
By Henry G. Bosch(Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand
Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
PastorAlan Carr has a sermon entitled IF THE STONES COULD TALK
Palestine is filled with stones. Jesus had a lot of contactwith rocks and stones
during His ministry. He walkedon them, sat on them, prayed on them, wept
on them and bled on them. If those stones that Jesus came into contactwith
could talk, what stories would they tell? Today, as God gives me liberty, I am

going to take you to severalplaces when Jesus came in contactwith stones. If
stones could talk these would have a greatstory to tell. Let’s see if we can hear
it today.
I. Mt. 4:3-4 STONES ON THE MOUNT OF TEMPTATION Theytalk of His
Sinless Nature
2 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21 When innocent blood was shedon Calvary, sin and
Satanwere forever defeated!
He is still our Holy Savior today!
II. John 2:6 STONESAT THE MARRIAGE OF CANA They talk of His
Provision
Phil. 4:19 – He is still Jehovah-Jireh, "The LORD will see to it!" He is still "I
AM" – Ex. 3:14
He is worthy of your faith!
III. John 4:6 STONES AT JACOB’S WELL They talk of His Mission
He picked the worse one in town to demonstrate his greatpurpose – Luke
19:10;Mark 2:17
He still loves old sinners today.
He is still seeking and saving all who come to Him – John 6:37
His mission is also ours – Mark 16:15;Acts 1:8
IV. John 8:7 STONESIN THE TEMPLE COURT Theytalk of His
Forgiveness

He is a forgiving Savior – Ps 103:12
When a sinner comes to Him, He gives full justification – 1 Cor. 6:9-11
V. John 11:39-44 STONES AT THE TOMB OF LAZARUS They talk of His
Power
He has the powerto raise the physically dead and the spiritually dead as well!
He is capable of raising up hell bound sinners Ep 3:20; Mt. 28:18.
He can take a life ruined and wrecked by sin, touch it by His grace and make
it over again.
The touch of the Master’s hand.
VI. Lk. 19:40 STONESAROUND JERUSALEM They talk of His Glory
The context. Jesus was being praised and glorified and the religious elite got
upset over it. He is still worthy and they still get upset. But, we still need to be
actively praising His Name.
Praise is a command and not an option – Ps. 47:1; Heb. 13:15.
Don’t feel like it – Do you reckonJobdid? Job 1:20-21!
I don’t want the stones doing my shouting. How about you?
VII. Luke 22:41 STONESIN GETHSEMANETheytalk of His Agony
He battled Satanic attack infinitely more intense than what He facedon the
Mt. Of Temptation, but He prevailed and drank from the bitter cup so that
you and I might taste the sweetnectarof salvation.

Satantried to kill Him, but He was victorious. Calvary was His goaland when
He reachedthe cross, He finished the business He came here to do – John
19:30
VIII. Mt. 28:1-6 STONES AT THE GARDEN TOMB They talk of His
Resurrection
Yes, He died, but He rose up again – Matt. 28:6. Now, He lives foreverto
make intercessionfor His people – Heb. 7:25. Yes, I am glad that Jesus died
on the cross, but I am more glad that He rose from the dead. A dead Savior
saves on one!
Col. 3:3 – Our lives are tied with His. We will only live as long as Jesus does!
IX. Acts 1:10-11 STONES ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES They talk of His
Return
He ascendedback to the Father, but He left us the blessedhope and promise
of His return – John 14:1-3;1 Th 4:16-18, Zechariah14:4-note
Get ready, for this year might just be the year when the Saviorreturns to
claim His people.
The question is: Are you ready?
Conclusion- If the stones couldspeak you know what they would be saying?
Just the same things that you and I ought to be saying today. As we stand here
on the threshold of a New Year, we ought to get about the business of
declaring His greatness to a lostand dying world. If the stones were to speak,
they would be doing our job. Let’s get busy for Jesus and spread the message
of His saving grace.

ALAN CARR
Luke 19:28-40 IF THE STONESCOULD TALK
Intro: Ill. The Context. Ill. Palestine is filled with stones. Jesus hada lot of
contactwith rocks and stones during His ministry. He walkedon the, sat on
them, prayed on them, wept on them and bled on them. If those stones that
Jesus came into contactwith could talk, what stories would they tell? Today,
as God gives me liberty, I am going to take you to severalplaces whenJesus
came in contactwith stones. If stones could talk these would have a great story
to tell. Let’s see if we canhear it today.
I. Mt. 4:3-4 STONES ON THE MOUNT OF TEMPTATION
They talk of His Sinless Nature
(Ill. 2 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21) When innocent blood was shed on Calvary, sin
and Satanwere forever defeated!) (Ill. He is still our Holy Saviortoday!)
II. John 2:6 STONESAT THE MARRIAGE OF CANA
They talk of His Provision
(Ill. Phil. 4:19 – He is still Jehovah-Jireh, "The LORD will see to it!" He is still
"I AM" – Ex. 3:14) (Ill. He is worthy of your faith!)
III. John 4:6 STONES AT JACOB’S WELL
They talk of His Mission

(Ill. He pickedthe worse one in town to demonstrate his greatpurpose – Luke
19:10;Mark 2:17 – Ill. He still loves old sinners today.) (Ill. He is still seeking
and saving all who come to Him – John 6:37!) (Ill. His mission is also ours –
Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8)
IV. John 8:7 STONESIN THE TEMPLE COURT
They talk of His Forgiveness
(Ill. He is a forgiving Savior – Psa. 103:12 andso on!) (Ill. When a sinner
comes to Him, He gives full justification – 1 Cor. 6:9-11 and so on!)
V. John 11:39-44 STONES AT THE TOMB OF LAZARUS
They talk of His Power
(Ill. He has the powerto raise the physically dead and the spiritually dead as
well! He is capable of raising up hell bound sinners – Eph. 3:20; Matt. 28:18.
Ill. He can take a life ruined and wreckedby sin, touch it by His grace and
make it over again.)(Ill. The touch of the Master’s hand.)
VI. Lk. 19:40 STONESAROUND JERUSALEM
They talk of His Glory
(Ill. The context. Jesus was being praisedand glorified and the religious elite
got upset over it. He is still worthy and they still getupset. But, we still need to
be actively praising His Name.)(Ill. Praise is a command and not an option –
Psa. 47:1; Heb. 13:15. Ill. Don’t feel like it – Do you reckonJobdid? Job 1:20-
21!)(Ill. I don’t want the stones doing my shouting. How about you?)

VII. Luke 22:41 STONESIN GETHSEMANE
They talk of His Agony
(Ill. He battled Satanic attack infinitely more intense than what He faced on
the Mt. Of Temptation, but He prevailed and drank from the bitter cup so
that you and I might taste the sweetnectarof salvation..)(Ill. Satan tried to
kill Him, but He was victorious. Calvary was His goaland when He reached
the cross, He finished the business He came here to do – John 19:30.)
VIII. Matt. 28:1-6 STONES AT THE GARDEN TOMB
They talk of His Resurrection
(Yes, He died, but He rose up again – Matt. 28:6. Now, He lives foreverto
make intercessionfor His people – Heb. 7:25. Yes, I am glad that Jesus died
on the cross, but I am more glad that He rose from the dead. A dead Savior
saves on one!Ill. Col. 3:3 – Our lives are tied with His. We will only live as
long as Jesus does!)
IX. Acts 1:10-11 STONES ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
They talk of His Return
(Ill. He ascendedback to the Father, but He left us the blessedhope and
promise of His return – John 14:1-3;1 Thes. 4:16-18.)(Get ready, for 1998
might just be the year when the Saviorreturns to claim His people.) The
question is: Are you ready?

Conc:If the stones could speak you know what they would be saying? Just the
same things that you and I ought to be saying today. As we stand here on the
threshold of a New Year, we ought to get about the business of declaring His
greatness to a lostand dying world. If the stones were to speak, they would be
doing our job. Let’s get busy for Jesus and spread the messageofHis saving
grace.
THOMAS CONSTABLE
Verse 40
However, Jesus refusedto silence the disciples. They spoke the truth. The
figure of stones crying out (personification) stresses the appropriateness of the
disciples crying out. If the disciples kept silence, the stones would need to
declare who Jesus was insteadof them. This clearmessianic claim is unique to
Luke. It shows the blatant rejectionof Israel"s leaders in the face of
indisputable evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
"All history had pointed toward this single, spectaculareventwhen the
Messiahpublicly presented Himself to the nation, and God desired that this
fact be acknowledged."[Note:Martin, p253.]
The Triumphal Entry is only the secondincident in Jesus" ministry that all
four evangelists recorded, the first being the feeding of the5 ,000. This
indicates its greatimportance in God"s messianic program.

MATTHEW HENRY
Whether men praise Christ or no he will, and shall, and must be praised
(Luke 19:40): If these should hold their peace, and not speak the praises of the
Messiah's kingdom, the stones would immediately cry out, rather than that
Christ should not be praised. This was, in effect, literally fulfilled, when, upon
men's reviling Christ upon the cross, insteadof praising him, and his own
disciples'sinking into a profound silence, the earth did quake and the rocks
rent. Phariseeswouldsilence the praises ofChrist, but they cannot gain their
point for as God can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham, so he can
out of the mouths of those children perfectpraise.
JAMIESON, FAUSSET, BROWN
Verse 40
the stones, etc. — Hitherto the Lord had discouragedalldemonstrations in
His favor; latterly He had begun an opposite course;on this one occasionHe
seems to yield His whole soulto the wide and deep acclaimwith a mysterious
satisfaction, regarding it as so necessarya part of the regaldignity in which as
MessiahHe for this lasttime entered the city, that if not offeredby the vast
multitude, it would have been wrung out of the stones rather than be withheld
(Habakkuk 2:11).
JOHN MACARTHUR
Jesus'Humble Coronation, Part 2
Sermons Luke 19:28–44 42-242 May6, 2007
A + A - RESET

Let's open our Bibles now to the study of the Word of God, to the 19th
chapter of Luke, Luke chapter 19. And we are returning to the text of
Scripture that describes what is commonly known as our Lord's triumphal
entry, His entry into Jerusalemfor the last time where He is hailed by the
crowds as the Messiah. Itbegins in verse 28. Let me read this text againto
you. This is part 2 of what we beganlast week.
"After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, ascending to
Jerusalem. And it came about that when He approachedBethphage and
Bethany near the mount that is calledOlivet, He sent two of the disciples
saying, 'Go into the village opposite you in which as you enter you will find a
colt tied on which no one yet has eversat. Untie it and bring it here. And if
anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ thus shall you speak, ‘The Lord
has need of it.' And those who were sentwent away and found it just as He
had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them,
'Why are you untying the colt?'And they said, 'The Lord has need of it.' And
they brought it to Jesus and they threw their garments on the colt and put
Jesus on it. And as He was going, they were spreading their garments in the
road. And as He was now approaching near the descentof the Mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise Godjoyfully with
a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, 'Blessedis the
King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peacein heaven and glory in the
highest.' And some of the Pharisees andthe multitudes saidto Him, 'Teacher,
rebuke Your disciples.' And He answeredand said, 'I tell you, if these become
silent, the stones will cry out.' And when He approached, He saw the city and
wept over it, saying, 'If you had knownin this day, even you, the things which
make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes, for the days
shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and
surround you and hem you in on every side and will level you to the ground
and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone upon
another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"
This has to be the most unique, the most unparalleled coronationever. First
of all, as we noted last week, it is humble in all its aspects andthat is unique
for a coronation. Butbeyond that, it is also unique because there is such irony

in it, such stunning contrastbetweenthe commendation of Jesus by the people
and the condemnation of the people by Jesus.
On the one hand, it is large and enthusiastic acclamationand admiration. On
the other hand, it is shallow and hypocritical.
On the one hand, it is generatedby the people's joyful hope of a immediate
victory over their enemies. Onthe other hand, it is met by the King's
sorrowfulpronouncement of disasterand doom in the coming defeat by their
enemies.
On the one hand it is the people's eagerdesire to enjoy the glories of total
triumph and the arrival of the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, our Lord
pronounces on them the agonies oftotal conquestin the arrival, not of the
Kingdom of God, but of the judgment of God.
The contrastbetweenwhat the people expect and what they will receive is
vast. The contrastbetweenthe attitude of the people, one of joy; and the
attitude of Jesus, one of sorrow, couldn't be more distinct. The words of the
people are words of celebration. The words of Jesus are words of
condemnation. The people expect the best. He pronounces the worst. They
want exaltation. He promises devastation. Theyexpect a conquering hero.
They get a condemning judge. Surely there has never been a coronationlike
this where at the very event itself, the King being offeredthe throne, refuses it
and turns on His people to bring destruction. There's never been a coronation
like this.
As we return to the event, a little bit of backgroundhistory. A few weeks
before this, Jesus had performed one of His most notable miracles, the raising
of Lazarus from the dead. It occurred in Bethany, that little village two miles
eastof Jerusalemon the road to Jericho. Enoughtime had gone by that
Lazarus had well circulated in the world and everybody essentiallyknew of
this remarkable resurrection.
After raising Lazarus from the dead a few weeks earlierJesus thenleft Judea
and the surroundings of Bethany and Jerusalemto head north into Galilee.
He had spent a few weeks in Galilee and now has begun moving south. He

comes acrossthe Jordan to the east, down through Perea eastofthe Jordan, a
little north of Jericho, crossesthe Jordan to come back on to the side of Judea,
enters the city of Jericho. Bynow He is surrounded by a large crowd.
There's a steadyflow of pilgrims coming that way anyway to the Passover. It
could have as many as two million Jews in and around Jerusalemat that time,
a steady flow and the crowdaround Him largerthan most, of course, because
of who He was and the miracles He had performed. And the crowdwould
grow and grow as more pilgrims joined the stream. Spent two days in
Jericho, that city down by the DeadSea at the foot of the great mountain that
ascends to Jerusalem;there He had healed two blind beggars and savedthem
from their sins. They were now His disciples and joined the crowd to follow
with Him. He also brought salvationto the home of the chief tax collector
there, a man named Zacchaeus who in a demonstration of his transformed
heart actedwith generositytoward everyone he had stolenfrom.
And so, after His experience in Jericho and the salvationof those three it is
time to ascendthe hill to Jerusalem. It's almost4,000 feetup, about seventeen
miles to Jerusalem. He walked that path. It was a road, really. It has always
been a road, but it now was a Roman road and the Romans had paved it and
turned it into a military road and it was carefully guarded. Up that road
came Jesus, not alone by any means, but surrounded by His disciples, His
apostles, those who truly believed in Him, those who were curious about who
He was and an accumulating crowdof pilgrims.
In John chapter 12 and verse 1, we are told that He arrived at Bethany six
days before the Passover, sixdays before the Passover. Thatwouldput it on
Saturday, since the Passoverwas onFriday. On that Saturday when He
arrived in Bethany, a supper was given in His honor. John tells us the story of
that supper in chapter 12. Thatnight, that Saturday, He had only six days left
before His crucifixion, six days before the hard, cruel walk carrying the cross
up to Golgotha, sixdays before the spitting and the mocking and the hating
and the beating and the nails and the thorns and the sin-bearing and the God-
forsakenexperience ofbeing crucified as God's chosenLamb fit for sacrifice,
only six days left. He seeksthe fellowship, the love, the affection, the
encouragement, the comfort of familiar friends, the disciples and His dear
friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus who lived in Bethany. But even there the

fellowship is marred because Judas is there, ever presentwith stinging stabs
of betrayal, a constantreminder of what was to come.
On the next day, the Sunday of that week, the word by then had circulatedall
around the area, including into the city of Jerusalemthat Jesus was there at
the house of Lazarus. And so John, chapter 12 verses 9 to 11, tell us the
crowdcame flowing out of the easterngate of Jerusalem, the two miles down
to Bethany to see both Jesus and this resurrectedLazarus. So Sunday was
spent with His disciples, with His friends and surrounded by the crowds who
were so curious to see the man who was dead and the one who had raised
Him.
Monday, the next day, He enters Jerusalem. Thatis the day described here in
this text. The entry of Jesus into Jerusalemis triggeredby His own words in
verse 30. He says to two of His disciples, perhaps Peterand John since He
commissions those two in chapter 22 verse 8 on another task, perhaps it was
them, but anyway to two of them He says, "Go into the village opposite you,
you'll find a colt tied, untie it, bring it here. If they question you, say, 'The
Lord has need of it.'" That command launched His entry. He is in total
control of every detail in His life and ministry. He’s on a divine timetable.
He's doing things preciselywhen God wants them done and as God
determines they are to be done. He follows perfectly the will of His Father.
He knows that He is about to start a massive demonstration. The city is filled
with these hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come there.
Everybody knows about Him first-hand, second-hand, third-hand because of
the three years of extensive miracles throughout the land of Israel. He knows
that when this begins, it will escalate rapidly. Some have estimatedthat the
crowdsurrounding Him as He comes into the city could have been well over
200 thousand people.
Now Jesus neverallowedsuch a massive demonstration in His entire ministry
because He knew it would precipitate escalatedfury and angeron the part of
the religious leaders who had wanted Him dead for a long, long time. A
display like this would speedup everything toward them completing their
mission of His execution. Up until now, He didn't want it to happen. But now
He did. Now was the time. This was the city. This was the week. Infact,

Friday would be the day. And He sets this demonstration in motion to move
everything towardHis own crucifixion on Friday because that's the day when
the Passoverlambs were slain and that's the day He would be slain as the true
and only Lamb of God who takes awaythe sin of the world. His timing is
impeccable. It is also the day, Monday, when the families took the lamb they
were to have slain on the Passoverinto the house, the lamb that would become
a pet of the family, endearing itself to the family to be then slaughteredas a
symbol of sacrifice for the sins of the family. And so He offers Himself, as it
were, to the family of Israel on the very day when they were taking in their
lambs and He would die on the very day when the lambs would be slain.
His timing is also perfect because Daniel9 verses 24 to 27 saidin the prophecy
that there would be sixty-nine times seven years, weeksofyears, sixty-nine
times sevenuntil Messiahwould come and be cut off. Sixty-nine times seven is
483 years. They calculatedyears at 360 days a year; 483 years at 360 days
totals 173,880. So fromthe beginning until the Messiahcomes to be cut off,
you have this duration of 483 years of 360 days. That's prophesiedin Daniel
9:24 to 27. When does it start? It started with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
When was that? 445 B. C. Declaredby Artaxerxes and preciselyfrom then
until this week and this day is the 483 years. He comes in perfect fulfillment
of Daniel's prophecy. Everything is in line. And so He triggers the event
Himself by sending the disciples to get the animal which He will ride into the
city.
Though His coronationis humble, He comes riding on the colt, the foal of an
ass, the foal of a donkey, as the prophet said, and though there are no crowns
for Him, and though there are no dignitaries and there is not the usual regalia
that occurs at a coronation, and though the people are fickle and though they
are shallow and superficial and though they are hypocritical, and though they
only cry "Hosanna" to Him this day and soonafter are screaming for His
blood, in spite of the shallownessand superficiality of this event, He is
nonetheless God's true King. He is God's true King. And it manifests itself in
this coronationin three ways:preparation, adoration, and condemnation.
Last time we lookedat preparation in verses 28 to 35. The very fact that He
sent them to get that animal and to bring the animal and He rode in on the

animal, as I pointed out to you, is a fulfillment of Zechariah9:9, very specific
prophecy. Matthew's accountof the triumphal entry refers to that prophecy,
Matthew 21. John's accountrefers to that prophecy in John 12. He comes
vindicating that He is the Messiahby the fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecy. Also, He demonstrates His omniscience. He knew about the
animal, though He couldn't see the animal. He knew where it was. He knew it
was tied there. He knew what the conversationwith the owners would be like.
He demonstrates againHis deity and His messiahship in those elements of the
preparation for His entry.
Secondly, we saw last time adoration, which also points to His deity and
messiahship, and we saw that in verses 36 to 38. He receives the worship and
the adorationthat the people give Him. It comes from Psalm118, part of the
Hallel. This is a coronationPsalm. They are celebrating Him as God's great,
glorious King. They say, "Blessedis the King who comes in the name of the
Lord!" Matthew adds that they said, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" Mark
adds, they said, "Blessedis the coming kingdom of David! Hosanna in the
highest!" All of those things were being said. Obviously from the text, the
disciples initiated all of that. They were the ones, according to verse 37, who
beganto praise God joyfully with a loud voice, thinking: Surely this is the
moment when He is going to come as the conquering hero, the conquering
Messiah, setup the kingdom, defeatour enemies. They start the celebration.
The crowdcatches the fever and they all begin to cry out the same things,
pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. He receives it. He takes it because He
deserves it. So we see that He is who He is by way of preparation,
omniscience. Fulfilling prophecy He is who He is demonstrated by adoration.
He receives worshipwillingly because He deserves it.
Now the leaders see it as blasphemy. They don't think He deserves to be
worshiped and adored in this way, and they let it be known in verse 39.
"Some of the Pharisees,"and by the way, this is the last time we'll see that
word, or see them specificallyin Luke's gospel. This is their final comment.
"Some of the Pharisees and the multitude saidto Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your
disciples.'" Theysaw this adoration, this acclamationcoming to Jesus as
blasphemy, as do all Christ rejecters. They're outragedat this messianic
honor being given to Jesus and being receivedby Him as if He is worthy of it.

They know they can't control the crowd, it's too huge. And it's exuberant,
and in a sense, outof control. There's only one who could do that. They know
who that is, they go to Him and they say, "Teacher," atleastshowing Him
some respect, "rebuke Your disciples.” Theysure should be rebuked because
they are ascribing to You that which You are not due. They ask Jesus to
silence His disciples who are instigating this celebrationand leading the
adoration.
His reply is the turning point in this event. It is a stunning reply and it takes
us to the third point. He demonstrates His messiahship in the preparation, the
adoration, and the condemnation. Verse 40:"He answeredand said, 'I tell you,
if these become silent, the stones will cry out.'" And then He goes on to
pronounce judgment. He vindicates Himself as the Messiahin preparation,
omniscience and the fulfillment of prophecy; in adoration, receiving worship;
and in condemnation He possessesthe authority to pronounce judgment, and
He knows the future. You see His deity here in knowing about an animal that
He cannot see, not visible to His eyes, being in a place, a precise place. He
knows what only supernatural can know;only God can know, about the
present, where that animal is. He also knows what only God could know
about the future, the very judgment that is to come. He is then the Messiah,
the omniscientone who fulfills Old Testamentprophecy, who knows things in
the presentthat no one can know, and who determines the future and has a
right to judge.
In John chapter 5, a most notable and important text, Jesus declaresthese
words, and they are specificallyrelated to judgment. Verse 20, "The Father
loves the Son," John 5:20, "shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.
Greaterworks than these will He show you that you may marvel for just as
the Fatherraises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to
whom He wishes. Fornot even the Fatherjudges anyone, but He has given all
judgment to the Son." The Songives life. The Son takes life. The Son judges;
He is the sovereignone who knows the future. He is the sovereignone who
brings judgment. From this point on, the scene moves from joy to horror,
from the highestto the lowest. Theyare crying peace, He speaks of
destruction. Theypronounce on Him glory, He pronounces on them doom.
The whole ending is stunning, it is shocking. It is tragic. For the first time He

allows this kind of event to take place and at its apex, He turns it in the
direction opposite what the people expect. They're adoring Him for what they
want Him to be. He tells them He will be something very different than that.
Now notice verse 40, "I tell you," for emphasis, "I tell you, if these become
silent..." Stopthere. These people, if they become silent, if their praise stops,
all this praise, all this shouting, all this exaltation will end.
It did. In fact, you don't hear any of it after Monday. You don't hear it on
Tuesday. You don't hear it on Wednesday. The next time you hear the crowd
is on Friday and on Friday they are saying a very different thing. If you look
over to the 23rd chapter of Luke, you get a little glance. You could also look at
Matthew 27 and get the same. But in verse 18, start there, they all cried out
together. This is the mass of people gatheredbefore Pilate. They all cried out
together, saying, "Away with this man! Release forus Barabbas." Who is
Barabbas? “One who had been thrown into prison for a certain insurrection
made in the city and for murder.” They wanted a murderer to be released,
rather than Jesus. And Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, verse 20, addressed
them, saying...addressedthem again, "They kept on calling out, saying,
'Crucify, crucify Him.'" The same kind of mob hysteria. He said to them a
third time, "Why? Whatevil has this man done? I found in Him no guilt
demanding death. I will therefore punish Him and release Him. But they
were insistent with loud voices, asking thatHe be crucified and their voices
beganto prevail and Pilate pronounced sentence."
If these become silent, and they will...whenthese become silent...since these
will become silent, the stones will cry out. It needs to be noted that the silence
of Israel has not yet been broken. The Tuesdayof that week, whenthe crowd
fell silent, launched millennia of a refusal on the part of Israelto acknowledge
Jesus as their Messiah. How fickle they were. A few days later they're saying,
"Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Give us a criminal. Give us a murderer. We
don't want Jesus. They're still saying it these 2,000 years later. When that
crowdfell silent, that nation fell silent...andthey're still silent.
The opposition to Jesus was so strong that even after the resurrectionfrom
the dead, the praise of Jesus was neverraisedin the city of Jerusalem, or in

the land of Israel, exceptamong the few thousand who were saved. When
Jerusalemgrew silent, Jesus said, "The stones will cry out." Cry out, kraz,
scream, future tense, when in the future these people become silent, in the
future the stones will scream. Screaming stones? Whatis that? What is
that? It's more than just the expressionof praise from some inanimate object,
as if God is to be praised by His creation, far more than that. In fact, in the
little prophecy of Habakkuk, chapter 2, we have a very goodparallel. In the
prophecy of Habakkuk we have a statementof judgment on the Chaldeans,
the Chaldeans, the wicked, paganChaldeans. And the Chaldeans had
basicallyprospered as a society, but they had prosperedat the expense of
other nations, they had prospered by extortion, they had prospered by usury,
charging exorbitant interest rate, they had prosperedby murder and
bloodshed. They had literally built their towns and cities by the sacrifice and
the slaughterand the abuse of other people. So Habakkuk, the prophet, is
given a message fromGod of judgment againstthem. I just want to pick out
one verse;that is in verse 11. "Surely the stone will cry out from the wall and
the rafter will answerit from the framework." Thenverse 12, "Woe to him
who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence." The
stones in the houses and the buildings that they built were symbols of their
wickedness. The walls oftheir houses and the timbers of their roofs,
plundered from others, gainedby bloodshedand usury, screamof their
wickedness, screamof their guilt. And Jesus is saying the same thing here.
There are going to be some stones who will cry out againstyou as the stones in
the pastcried out of the guilt of the Chaldeans. All you had to do was look at
their houses and when you saw them, all their prosperity, all their edifices
were testimonies to their corruption and bloodshed. The stones criedout of
their guilt and the judgment of God upon them, and some stones are going to
do the same in your case. That's explained in the next section, verse 41.
"When He approachedHe saw the city and wept over it."
There are a number of words for weeping. One of them, one of the Greek
words, is used in John 11:35 over Lazarus, "Jesus wept." Thatis a...a simple
word for weeping. This is a much stronger word, in factthis is the strongest
word in the Greek language. It would be equal to our word "sobbing,
heaving." Very strong, the strongest, a heaving, sobbing, agonizing,

wrenching expressionof sorrow;no strongerword exists. Jesus sees
Jerusalemand He's rackedwith agony. He begins to heave and sob. This is
part of the tears and strong crying, I think, that Hebrews 5:7 encompasses.
He is agonizedover their superficiality. You would think He would be happy
with all this attention at that moment, right? It all lookedgood. ButHe could
see through it. He wept in the face of their hypocrisy and their shallowness
and their rejectionin a few days which He was wellaware was coming. And
He wept because He knew what would come after that. And He wept because
He knew their damnation was coming.
Listen to what He said. "Saying," andthis is sorrowful, heart-breaking: “’If
you had knownin this day, even you, the things which make for peace.’" Not
talking about peace with Rome, not talking about political peace, nottalking
about internal socialpeace, He's talking about peace with God. "If you had
only known; if you had only known the things that make for peace."What
makes for peace? Repentance,faith in Christ, believing the message ofthe
kingdom; He had preachedit from the very beginning. He preached
repentance and the kingdom, how to come into the Kingdom through faith in
Him, repentance from sin. He had preached it all along. I'm not going to take
you back through the gospelof Luke, but you can go all the way back to
chapter 4, chapter5, chapter 6, chapter7, chapter 8, all the waythrough and
see Jesus offering them againand againand againand again, the goodnews of
peace with God.
If you had known, if you had understood, if you had embracedand believed
this day. What day is He talking about? He's not talking about Monday, that
day. This day, the time of My presence in your nation, if you had only
understood and believed in this incredible hour in which I have moved among
you, if you had only believed the things that make for peace, the salvation
message. That's salvationlanguage, peacewith God, reconciliation, the gospel.
But unbelief had blinded them all the way along. They chose to be
unbelieving, hard-hearted, self-righteous rejecters ofChrist. He gave
invitation after invitation after invitation. They rejectedthem all and
therefore they rejectedpeace, peace withGod.

He had already pronounced doom on them at the end of chapter 13. "Oh
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, stones those sentto her,
how often I wanted to gatheryour children togetherjust as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings. You wouldn't have it. Behold, your house is left to
you desolate." ThenHe added, "You'll not see Me until the time comes when
you say, 'Blessedis He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" You're never
going to see Me until you finally turn and believe. That hasn't happened yet.
The judgment pronounced here is still in place. Israeltoday currently is
under divine judgment. Are they God's chosenpeople for a future salvation?
Yes. Will He preserve them as a people unto that salvation? Yes. But
currently they are under the same judgment that launched againstthem by
God in the pronunciations of Jesus here and beganin its powerful expression
in 70 A.D., forty years later, with the destruction of Jerusalem. Since that
time, Jerusalemhas been trodden underfoot to one degree or another by the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles ends. And we'll learn about that in
Luke chapter 21.
They made their choice. The celebrationwas superficialand He knew it. In
fact, He even says, "But now they have been hidden from your eyes."
Whateverthis celebrationmeans, whatever is going on here, howeveryou may
be emotionally caught up in this thing, the truth is, you have rejectedMe, you
continue to reject Me, and it is hidden from your eyes. The truth is hidden
from your eyes, the gospel of peace, the only way of reconciliationwith God.
This is not just a statement of divine judgment, though it is an affirmation, it
is a statement of their own self-imposedblindness. In fact, now they have
been hidden from your eyes. Rightnow, here and now, you're in the dark. In
the future, they will not believe. For what was a chosenblindness becomes a
judicial blindness. They never believe. Readthe recordof Acts 2 through 7,
Jerusalemnever believes. Theydon't believe now, they never have. They will
not until the end time when they look on Him whom they pierced, as
Zechariah said, mourn for Him as an only Son, a fountain of cleansing is open.
Then they receive their kingdom. That's in the future.
And Jesus then describes the judgment that is coming, verse 43, "Forthe days
shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you,

surround you, hem you in on every side, level you to the ground and your
children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another."
Let me just break that down quickly for you. "The days will come upon you,"
that's an Old Testamentexpressionused many times in the Old Testament,
Isaiah39:6; Hosea 9:7; Amos 4:2; etc., etc., etc. “The days will come upon
you,” often used as an Old Testamentexpressionof coming judgment, coming
judgment; it's just another time when Jesus refers to coming judgment.
Five aspects. Look atthem. Number one...five aspects to this judgment.
Number one, verse 43, "Your enemies will throw up a bank before you," or
better, "a barricade." When in ancient times you wanted to conquer a city,
you surrounded the city and built a barricade to keepeverybody in and you
starved them to death. No one could get out. No one could get in. So you cut
off the food supply, and if possible, the water supply as well. They built a
palisade, if you will, or a barricade, a high barrier to sealoff the city so that
no one could go in and no one could go out. The Jews...Theybuilt it out of
wood. Josephus, the historian, tells us they built it out of woodand the Jews
burned it down. So they built a wall around the city of Jerusalem. This is
what Titus Vespasiandid, according to Josephus, the historian, in his writing,
The JewishWar. That's the first feature. An enemy will come and build a
barricade. That's exactly what the Romans did in 70 A.D.
Second, verse 43, “surround you.” The enemy then surrounds you at the
point of the wall. No one can go in and no one can go out. The city is sealed
off from all supplies. Anyone who tries to escape is killed and thousands on
the inside eventually begin, and it doesn't take long, to starve and die. This all
started in 66 A.D. The Jews revoltedagainstRome in 66. That brought the
Romans. Thatled to the Roman siege in 70 A.D. The Romans built this great
palisade. The Jews burned it down. They put up a big wall. They then put
their troops there, completely surrounding the city, fully cutting it off. That
led to the third element, consequentially, “hem you in on every side,” sunech,
to press, to crowd from all sides, just escalating the pressure, the pressure
from all sides. Number four: “They will level you to the ground.” It literally
means to shatteragainstthe ground, to smash againstthe ground. That is to
say, the city will then be sackedand flattened and not just the city but your

children within you. It's not talking only about infants, or little children,
tekna, your sons, your inhabitants.
So what's going to happen? They're going to build a barricade. They're
going to then surround them with their soldiers. They're going to press.
Eventually they're going to break through when the people are so weak they
can't fight, and they're going to smashand shatter the population againstthe
ground; and then smash the city and its wallto the ground so that it cannot be
rebuilt. This exactly occurredin 70 A.D., forty years after Jesus gave this
prophecy.
Notice please verse 44, the middle of the verse, "Theywill not leave in you one
stone upon another." Those are the stones — friends — that cry out. When
you go silent, the stones will cry out. Forty years later, the stones that made
up that glorious city will lie on the ground as rubble, mute, screaming of the
judgment on Israel's unbelief.
Five months the siege took. And the Romans overpoweredthe weakened
Jews, starving Jews. Romansoldiers rampagedthrough Jerusalembasically
slaughtering everybody, children, women, adults, exceptthe strongestyoung
men which they kept for gladiatorialgames. Theydestroyedthe city;
everything exceptthe westernWailing Wall, some of you have seenit there, a
few other sections, massacring everybody. The hundreds of thousands of
people literally were slaughtered. Josephus writes this, "While the sanctuary
was burning(the temple) neither pity for age, nor request for rank was shown.
On the contrary. Children and old people, laity and priests alike were
massacred. The emperorordered the entire city and temple to be razed to the
ground, leaving only the highesttowers and the portion of the wall on the
west. All the restof the wall was so completely razed as to leave future visitors
to the spot no reasonto believe that the city had ever been inhabited.” And
the stones criedout, screamedout of judgment, total destruction.
Our Lord concludes by reminding them why this was going to happen. End of
verse 44, "Becauseyoudidn't recognize the time of your visitation."
Visitation, episkops, the visit of the incarnate God for the purpose of
salvation. Zechariahsaid when he heard all this was going to happen back in

Jesus was exaggerating to make a point

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